Jodhaa Akbar Fictionalized

Posted by Harsh Nevatia Feb 18, 2008

The much awaited Hindi movie Jodha Akbar released this week. It took over two years in the making, had a budget of over $10 million and starred two of the greatest icons of Bollywood – Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bacchhan. However the movie has encountered a wave of protests, including stalling of the screening of the movie, from the Hindu Rajputs against alleged incorrect portrayal of a Rajput princess.

The first claim of the protestors is that Jodha was not Akbar’s wife but his daughter-in-law. Many eminent historians have come out in support of this. The historians claim that The Akbarnama is the most substantive and authentic record of Akbar’s reign. It mentions that he married a Rajput princess but does not mention the name. The princess does not get a second mention in The Akbarnama. Gowariker and UTV, the movie’s producers, have come out with a list of sources in their defense. Let me add my two bit. We were taught in our history class way back in the 1960s that Akbar did marry Jodha, the sister of the Rajput chief Man Singh in order to cement the alliance between the Mughal Emperor and the Rajputs. But we have also learnt now that not everything taught in our history class was indisputable.

The second claim by the protestors is that the portrayal of a love affair between Jodha and Akbar is out of character and is a slur on the Rajput image. Even if the marriage had taken place for political compulsions, a Rajput princess would have treated it as a sacrifice for the good of her clan. She may have given her body to the Mughal King but never her heart. The producers of the movie admit the romance is fictional but within the realms of possibility.